


And The Walls Kept Tumbling Down

by Fiery_Succubus



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Arthur Morgan Does Not Have Tuberculosis, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bottom Micah Bell, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Past Child Abuse, Rating May Change, Smut, Soft Micah Bell, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Top Arthur Morgan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:21:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28590927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiery_Succubus/pseuds/Fiery_Succubus
Summary: Micah Bell was a ruthless, cold-blooded killer who only cared about himself, Never let anyone in, you can never get hurt.Arthur Morgan was an outlaw who had been hurt one too many times by loves vicious blade, he had given up on finding someone.This is the story of how they learned to love again, or in Micahs case, for the first time.
Relationships: Micah Bell/Arthur Morgan
Comments: 23
Kudos: 62





	1. Run and Hide

Blankets of rain thundered down from the sky drenching the earth below as two lone outlaws raced upon their horses into the night, the muted sounds of gunshots behind them as bullets flew past.

Micah screwed up, in many peoples opinions that was all he knew how to do. He didn't mean to he just got distracted.

It was supposed to be a simple job. Ride in, kill some O'driscolls and take their loot. It wasn't supposed to end with Micah and Arthur high-tailing Just past Cumberland Forest to get away.

The shouting and gunshots faded into the distance as the two outlaws made it to the base of Window Rock, an unlit cabin beckoning them towards it.

"There! Quickly tack the horses, I'll get a fire going" Arthurs deep drawl broke through the rain, leaving no room to argue Micah hitched both his Missouri Fox Trotter and Arthurs Dutch Warmblood to the rickety posts outside the cabin.

Stumbling through the door, shucking his coat and hat off, Micah watched as Arthur coaxed a small fire to grow by slowly adding another log. 

The orange glow of the fire did nothing to make the decrypt home around them look any better, the floorboards were rotting and there was more than one rodent that called this place home before.

"Yeah, ain't no mansion but better than being stuck in the rain" Arthur grumbled as he sat close to the fire in an attempt to dry quicker, his coat and hat lying beside him.

Micah just nodded as he took his boots off, shaking the water out of them. Looking back to Arthur he saw red seeping into the other man's shirt.

"You got hit," Micah said softly as he knelt beside Arthur, peeling scraps of blue fabric away from the open wound.

Arthur looked to where Micah had placed his hands, "huh?"

"Just a graze, I've had worse"

The heat in Micah's gaze as his head snapped up sent a shock through Arthur

"Now I don't doubt that cowpoke but that doesn't mean I'm going to let this fester!"

Arthur watched dumbstruck as Micah shuffled on his knees over to his satchel, pulling a bandage, some cloth and a bottle of whiskey out.

"You know the drill," Micah said looking away, a faint redness on his cheeks, that Arthur chose to ignore.

Micah felt his mouth dry up as the wounded man in front of him removed his shirt, he bit the inside of his cheek trying to distract himself from his treacherous thoughts.

The silence grew between the two men as Micah cleaned and wrapped Arthurs arm with a foreign gentleness.

As Micah put the leftover alcohol and bandages away Arthur let out an awkward cough,

"Thanks, you did good" 

Micah let out a humourless chuckle

"You mean with your arm? Or when I fucked up the job?"

Arthur winced, "What happened back there weren't your fault" Micah cocked an eyebrow at him and shook his head.

"Now we both know that ain't true, and I don't appreciate liers, Morgan" With the way Micah propped himself against the wall and shut his eyes, Arthur assumed that was the end of that conversation.

***

The Sun shining gently through both the windows and cracks in the walls was what woke Micah, to the sounds of birds singing in the trees and an empty spot where Arthur sat last night.

Taking a peek outside after putting on his now dry clothes Micah saw that Arthurs horse, 'Beast' So lovingly named was still hitched next to Baylock.

So either Arthur was somehow kidnapped during the night or he was just doing his 'morning rituals' either way Micah wanted to get back to camp as soon as possible.

Walking towards both horses Micah began to brush Baylock down, cleaning dried mud off his flank and legs making a mental note to tell the O'Driscoll back at camp to give him a bath.

Micah pulled out a sugar cube laying it on his flat open palm, gently cooing to his horse about how much a good boy he was for carrying him through a storm of rain and bullets when he felt a large wet nose on his shoulder.

Turning around Micah saw that Best had turned his head towards him and was now sniffing around his empty hand looking for a treat.

"Well now I wouldn't normally go round treating another man's horse, but since you asked so nicely" Micah chuckled as he fed a sugar cube to the massive horse, gently stroking its face.

"He ain't never going to leave you alone now" A gruff voice right behind Micah said, causing the man to let out a less than manly yelp.

Spinning around, hands on his holsters Micah came face to chest with the man he originally came out looking for. 

"Goddammit, You wanting to get shot, Morgan?!" Micah cried as he tried, and failed to compose himself.

The taller man let out a booming laugh that sent birds flying, "Oh Micah, We both know I'd have you disarmed and on the ground in a second" Arthur shook his head and heaved himself onto Beast.

Micah tried to retort between his sputtering but soon gave up as Arthur handed him something wrapped in butcher paper.

"Breakfast, you can eat on the way back to camp"

Micah peeled the paper away from the meat inside, eyeing it with suspicion.

"It ain't gonna bite you"

Micah's face grew pink

"I know that! Just like to know what it is! Unlike you, I don't just eat things I find on the ground!" Micah huffed as he pulled himself onto Baylock, pointedly not looking at the man behind him as he spurred his horse on in the direction back to Horseshoe Overlook.

Micah heard the man behind him let out a huff of a laugh but say nothing else, 'good' he thought 'be nice to have some quiet'


	2. A Stitch In Time

Travelling at a leisurely trot Arthur and Micah arrived back at camp sometime just after eleven.

They greeted young Lenny who was standing guard, who gave a small smile and a wave as they passed him to the hitching posts; Micah dismounted Baylock and called across the camp,

"O'Driscoll boy!" It didn't take long for an anxious Keiran to appear by his side, covered in hay with his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat.

"Get Baylock cleaned up will ya? I want him spotless next time I see him" Kieran stuttered out a 'yes Mr Bell' and quickly disappeared.

Micah made his way to the camp funds box, a feeling of anxiety or something too close to it curling in his chest. Micah glanced at the ledger and saw that Arthur had already put in his share, a solid hundred and fifty dollars from their little excursion.

He made sure to bit in a bit extra, a twinge of guilt in the back of his mind as he remembered Arthur's arm, He was on his way to the ammo wagon when Dutch called him over.

Dutch looked how he always did, impossibly regal for an outlaw; hair slicked back with pomade and an expensive cigar between his jewelled fingers. A smile graced the man's lips as Micah walked closer,

"It's good to see you son, good take?" Straight to business, as usual, Micah normally admired Dutch for that, but right now it irritated him for reasons he didn't want to look too far into.

"You know it boss, quick and quiet as always" Not a complete lie.  
Dutch was in the midst of thanking him and rambling on about faith and hard work when a prim freckled hand shot out from his tent and pulled him back inside.

Micah definitely did not want to stick around then, if the past few weeks had been any indicator all Molly and Dutch seemed to do was argue at each other, probably about the lack of affection Dutch gave her and her lack of faith in him.

He needed peace, he needed to think.

***

"Arthur!" A warm if frail voice came close to him as he was writing in his journal, He smiled and closed the book,

"Hosea, need anything?" The older man sat beside Arthur on his cot and placed a hand on his bicep, where his wound was, Arthur, pulled away and hissed in pain.

"Are you alright Arthur?" the concern in Hoseas voice was still the same as it was when they'd first met, something that could soothe and worry or wound he had.

" Bullet graze, nothing serious it should heal in a week or two" Hosea took a closer look at where the bandage was, he gestured to it "May I?"

Arthur gave the other man his arm and watched as he peeled away the bandage to inspect the wound,

"You cleaned this pretty well"

Arthur chuckled

"Well I didn't, Micah did. Hell, I didn't even notice I was hurt till he pointed it out."

Hosea gave him a strange look but said nothing as he re-wrapped the cloth,

"You'll want to get this shirt to the girls, You already have so few nice clothes."

Arthur rolled his eyes at Hosea's Jab and smiled as the man walked away, he took his blue summer shirt off, leaving it on his cot, for now, he needed a shave, and maybe a haircut.

The hair on Arthurs head and face had grown longer than he would normally allow it to, the past couple of months had more important things that he needed to focus on, hell even the past week and a half had him running all over creation.

First having to rescue Sean from bounty hunters, finding an oil wagon for John and the upcoming train heist. His looks and if he's honest hygiene took a place on the back burner for a while.

The familiar feel of the cool razor glide across his skin as he shaved was relaxing, a simple /repetitive motion helped him to slow his mind down. Arthur let the noise of camp fall into a dull buzz as he went through the motions of shaving his face and trimming his hair, relishing this small time he had to himself.

Wiping the leftover foam from his face Arthur packed his razor away and turned back to his cot When he turned back to his cot his shirt was gone, not too strange as Hosea had probably told one of the girls that he needed it fixed, whatever he needed to make his way to meet john for the train job.

***

"𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦"

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢?"

"𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳"

"𝘔𝘮𝘮, 𝘖𝘬 𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢!"

"𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘭𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘈𝘮𝘰𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘵!"

Micah liked this little place he'd found for himself. To the untrained eye, it was just a cluster of bushes but if looked at closely you would see the small sitting space in the middle.

Even though he was secluded it was hard for him not to look over his shoulder every second, if someone caught him with Arthurs shirt it would be weird enough but if they also knew he could sew? He'd kill them, camp member or no.

The sun was dipping its way below the horizon, but Micah was too stubborn to let something as trivial as 'little light' deter him from the task at hand. He knew he could get a lantern but that would show his location to the other camp members and then he'd have to find a new 'alone spot'

After an hour of pricked fingers and quiet curses, he was finally done; He examined his work cringing a little at the fact that he used a bright yellow thread, but he rather have it clash than to have asked one of the girls to borrow some of theirs.

Micah carefully made his way out of his hiding place, closely scanning the area to see if anyone was nearby; it was still early so he had to be careful.

Quickly Micah made his into Arthur's tent and neatly folded his shirt onto his cot, when he heard hoofbeats coming up the track to the hitching posts he bolted to the far side of camp.

***

Arthur was exhausted, Marston's job went well enough; even if the law showed up almost immediately. He decided to bypass dinner and go straight to sleep, luckily nobody came up to greet him on his way.

He lowered himself to his cot with a heaving sigh, both his muscles and joints aching every time he moved whilst removing his clothes. 

He rubbed a hand over his face and went to lay down when he saw his summer shirt, did he just not see it earlier today?

Arthur grasped the shirt and noticed the tear that was in the sleeve was fixed, with a bright yellow thread; it clashed horribly but it was kind of cute? It was shaped like tiny birds connected with a string.

Arthur set the shirt aside and laid down, reminding himself the thank the girls in the morning.


	3. We loved once

Arthur awoke to the smell of fresh coffee by his head, the soft morning sun shining through the canvas of his tent and warming his face.

With eyes full of sleep he reached for the metal cup on his bedside table when his hand came to touch upon an envelope, wiping the crust from his eyes Arthur sat up and examined the letter.

'Arthur' was written in all too familiar handwriting, the swirls and flicks sending waves of anxiety and pain through his entire being. Gulping down his coffee, grimacing at the burn he felt in his throat, Arthur opened the letter with trembling hands.

Without a word, Arthur quickly dressed and hurried his way out of camp, on another fruitless venture to his past love Mary.

Micah watched Arthur cross camp from afar, his own mug of coffee abandoned on the ground beside him, the way Arthur hurried was strange; normally Arthur carried himself with an air of strength, but the way he looked this morning was anything but strong.

He had an odd urge to follow Arthur, Micah knew he was unwelcome; even at the best of times but the urge to understand what made Arthur behave this way was overwhelming.

So, Micah carefully stalked through the trees that surrounded Horseshoe Overlook; careful to avoid the guard paths, and he watched as Arthur rode his horse in the direction of valentine.

Sneaking his way back, Micah rummaged through the bags he kept on Baylock, finding clothes different to his staple red shirt and black pants.

He searched deeper and pulled out a somewhat crushed and battered flap hat, it belonged to Micah Bell the second, his father. Micah despised the man but he kept his hat after his death, as a grim reminder of what he vowed never to be.

Shaking the thoughts of his father away Micah fondly rubbed his Missouri fox trotter on his muzzle.

"Sorry boy, you're far too pretty for what I need to do" His horse huffed at his hand as he walked into the paddock, where the camp kept the spare workhorses.

Micah had been lucky so far as to not catch anyone's attention, but his luck ran out as he saw Keiran brushing down one of the horses.

Putting on a mean face Micah strode up to the smaller man and roughly shoved him away, Keiran let out a startled yelp as he stumbled back.

"Y-Yes Mr Bell?" the man stuttered, his grip on the brush turning his knuckles white,

"I'm taking the horse O'Driscoll" As Micah mounted the brown appaloosa, Keiran spoke again

"Daisy? What'chu need her for? Something wrong with Baylock?" Keirans worried tone somewhat shook Micah, not that he'd let it show.

With a low gruff voice Micah leaned down towards the sable hand, "Ain't nothing wrong with him, I'm taking this horse and you ain't gonna say shit to no one, clear?"

He normally got a slight kick out of scaring the O'Driscoll boy, but he just felt sick as he watched the smaller man curl in on himself and nod, moving out of his way as he directed the horse away from camp.

***

The smell of sheep dung hit Arthur as he rode into Valentine, the morning sun shining off the mixture of mud and shit as he rode up the roads towards where Mary was staying.

Anxiety bubbled continuously in his chest, He knew not to hope for this to be an attempt at rekindling what they once had together, he knew she was married now, But his heart ached the same.

Arthur walked up to the door of the humble house, his hands sweating as he knocked and waited for the woman he used to love to appear and send him flying once more.

But another woman emerged from the house, a woman with a gun aimed at his chest, it wasn't cocked but a gun is a gun.

"Yes?" She said, her voice flat as she glared at him with ice.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb you ma'am" He coughed awkwardly and placed his hands in front of himself,

" Is Mrs Linton in? " saying her name dried out his mouth worse than if were to swallow sand.

"I'll go check," the woman said as she backed into the house, gun still raised as she shut the door.

The tense seconds she was gone was like an eternity, a thousand possibilities ran through Arthurs mind.

Then she appeared, as beautiful as she was all those years ago, she stood before him.

"Hello, Arthur"

***

He knew, He goddam knew she wasn't calling on him to reminisce or to take him back, hell he wasn't even sure if he wanted that anymore.

She needed him to do something for her, rescue her brother, her brother who was now racing away from him. Through another man's farm and moving cattle Arthur chased Jamie until a train broke rushed through, breaking the chase.

"Please Arthur!" Jamie called from the other side of the tracks as the train kept passing,

"I'm a man now, I've found a calling!" Arthur kept moving his gaze from Jamie to the end of the train, ready to run across.

"You're just a kid!" Arthur called back, the train seeming endless as he waited.

"I ain't listening to you, You're an outlaw!" the train finally passed to reveal Jamie with a gun raised

"I'm warning you Arthur morgan!" The gun in Jamie's hand fired, scaring off the horse he used to run from Arthur, leaving them at a standoff across the tracks.

"Please kid, Put that gun down" Time seemed to slow as he watched the young man in front of him raise his gun with a shaking grip, Arthur had been in this situation many times before though now he couldn't simply shoot the other man dead.

Arthur made a move to raise his own gun, when a shot rang out from behind him, sending the gun in Jamies hand flying.

Whipping around Arthur spotted a man, a stranger in all but one feature, a pair of ice-blue eyes staring back at him.

"Micah?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned on writing the whole mission dialogue, but that would require me having to re-play said mission and I'd rather not have to deal with Mary any longer than I need to. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	4. Cheers

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Arthur growled out, annoyance lacing his words.

The man in front of him kept his gun raised as he rolled his eyes, "saving your ass it looks like" Micah cocked the gun towards the younger man on the other side of the tracks.

Arthur scoffed and looked back at Jamie who was glaring between him and Micah, "He's harmless, I'm just trying to bring him back to his sister"

"And I told you I ain't going back!" a voice cracked from behind him, Arthur let out a sigh and turned back to the boy across the tracks,

"Jamie, your sisters real worried about you, just let me take you back" Micah watched Arthur as he spoke, the man looked exhausted which was a stark contrast to how he was earlier that morning.

The young man Micah came to know as 'Jamie' avoided Arthurs gaze for a few moments, he soon let out a weak sounding 'okay' and wrapped his arms around Arthur who awkwardly pat his back before they separated.

"Have I been a terrible fool Arthur?" the boy sniffled, Arthur just shrugged and guided him towards Micah and their horses,

"I don't know kid, I don't know enough about it" Arthur paused as he locked eyes with Micah in front of him,

"But one thing I do know" He started as he mounted his horse, "There ain't no shame in looking for a better world" He helped Jamie onto the back of Beast, and turned to Micah who was mounting Daisy.

"I'll talk to you later, let's just get this kid home" Micah just nodded and the two cowboys set off in a light canter back to Valentine in silence.

***

It was only 10 minutes into the journey back when Jamie broke the silence, "So, are you and mary sweet on each other again?" Arthur let out a sad chuckle, "Naw kid, that's all a long time ago now. Now you're all grown up and joining cults" Micah couldn't help but cut in,

"Yeah, the 'Chelonians' what made you think that was a good idea?" Arthur was about to snap at Micah to keep his mouth shut but to his surprise, Jamie answered,

"I just wanted to belive there was something good coming my way, guess that's dead in the water" Seeing such a young man look so dejected hit something deep within Micah. Something that made him want to reach out and reassure the boy that there was still plenty of time for good things to come, that he still had a choice in life.

But, he didn't, he just let out a sarcastic joke about turtles and smirked as Jamie whined 'shut up' at him, as he and Arthur rode along the train tracks as a 'shortcut'

"All father kept telling me was, 'You won't amount to anything' 'you ain't enough of a man' " Jamie continued to talk to Arthur but Micah couldn't ear anything but those words.

Those words echoed in his head, swirling and covering his brain in feelings he'd long since pushed down, almost so far that he forgot about them. Almost.

Those words brought back feelings, which brought back memories that made Micah's blood run cold, it wasn't until the Valentine train station came into view that he snapped out of it.

As Arthur hitched Beast, Micah mentioned something about 'waiting in the saloon' and rode his horse up the muddy streets of Valentine and out of sight. 

"So was that one of your, Gang friends," Jamie asked as they walked up the ramp to the station,

"More of an acquaintance than anything" Arthur could sense Jamie wanted to say more but he was stopped by his sister running up to hug him.

He watched as the two siblings argued on their way onto the train, his manners forcing him to carry Marys bag for her.

She told him he'd never change, it was a surprise that after all these years apart Mary could make him feel like a fresh-eyed 20-something being rejected for the first time.

Arthur walked away as the train left, back through the station, down the ramp and mounted Beast. His mind was conflicted on what to do next, he could go back to camp where he would inevitably be questioned by the girls and Hosea about Mary and he knew how that'd go.

Or he could go wash all this away with precious alcohol, he looked up the street where he'd seen Micah ride and he made his decision.

***

The Rag-time music filled the air as Micah sat down, in a far booth in the corner away from prying eyes waiting for the barman to bring him the bottle of whiskey he ordered, sure that may be a bit much for the afternoon but he couldn't care less at that moment.

The whiskey was placed by his arm with two glasses, he looked up to correct the barman when he locked eyes with a familiar aquamarine pair.

"Hey," the other man said as he slumped down on the other side of the booth, filling his own tumbler to the brim and threw it back like he was dying of thirst.

Micah had a pretty good idea of what had gotten Arthur in this foul mood, He himself knew the feeling of speaking to a past lover only to have them spit down at you.

He rose his full glass towards Arthur; careful not to slosh it over the brim, "Cheers" A pair of sad eyes stared back at him for a moment then turned down towards the sticky table as Arthur rose his glass as well.

"Cheers"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while for me to get right, I wrote and re-wrote it like 3 times trying to make it perfect so I hope it comes across as such!


	5. Two Drunk Outlaws

Micah and Arthur had been drinking for hours by the time the sun went down and they decided to try and make it back to camp.

The two outlaws were largely ignored as they stumbled their way towards their horses, tripping over each other on the way.

Micah gripped Beast's saddle horn trying and failing to hook his foot into the stirrup when he felt Arthur's heavy hand almost knock him over, "Th-That's my Horse!" this sent Micah into a fit of giggles.

"I *hic* I know, I wanna ride'm" Arthur bent over in laugher as Micah doubled his efforts to mount the Dutch Warmblood, still missing the stirrups.

"Here, Lemme...Lemme help" Arthur stood up straight and batted Micah's hands away from Beast's saddle and placing his own upon Micah's hips, hoisting him high.

After a few seconds, Micah had finally settled in the saddle, feet hanging beside the stirrups, and Arthur hoisted himself into the saddle behind Micah, placing his own feet in the stirrups.

"Rea-Ready to set off?" Arthur's warm, alcoholic breath tickled the back of Micah's neck as the two sat atop Beast just in front of Smithfields saloon,

Micah set off in a fit of giggles again, gripping the saddle horn to keep himself steady as Arthur turned beast towards the main road "You betch'a!"

Slowly trotting along the road in silence, Micah sat in front of Arthur, feeling the other mans heart beating against his back, the warmth of Arthur's arms by his side protecting him from the occasional chill that blew through the air as Micah felt himself drift off.

***

Arthur rode up the path towards camp, only to be met with Sean asleep at his post and only the main campfire remained lit, to the best of his ability with Micah asleep in front of him and blurred vision, Arthur steered Beast towards the paddock.

Micah woke up as he was jostled by Arthur dismounting Beast, he grumbled incoherently and tried to dismount himself only to slip and end up face down in the dirt.

besides the ringing in his head from the impact Micah heard Arthur struggle to keep himself from laughing as he reached down to help him, Micah smirked as he reached out for Arthur, only to yank him down onto the ground beside him.

The two drunken outlaws burst into roaring laugher as the dull thud of Arthur's body echoed in the quiet night, neither man making another move to stand on their own.

"Will you two shut it! People are trying to sleep!" Micah and Arthur held their laugher in as they heard Hosea shout from across camp, Arthur pressed a finger to his lips as he rolled onto his back.

Micah smiled as he noticed his stitching on Arthurs shirt, he reached out and rubbed his fingers over the yellow thread, Arthur turned to him, his hat abandoned somewhere on the ground when he fell,

"Oh Yeah, I forgot to-to thank the girls' Arthur mumbled as he touched the stitch work as well, his fingers brushing against Micah's

"Why are'ya...Why the girls?" Micah whispered as he pulled his hand away, staring up at Arthur's face subconsciously noting that they were incredibly close together,

"They fixed it, It looks like lil'chicks" Arthurs smile as he spoke faded as he saw hurt and confusion on Micah's face, "You...not like it?" He mumbled.

Micah stared into Arthurs's eyes, getting lost for a second in their green-blue hue, "I...I fixed it, felt bad about it ripping" Realisation dawned on Arthur's face as he looked back down at his sleeve.

"Well...thank you. I didn' know you sewed" Micah yawned and curled into himself, placing his hands below his head as a makeshift pillow,

with his eyes fluttering shut he quietly spoke "There's lots you don' know 'bout me, Morgan"

Arthur felt his own body succumbing to exhaustion and alcohol, mirroring Micahs pose beside him his last conscious thought whispered in his mind,

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰"

***

The shock of cold water being poured on his head made Arthur shoot up from the ground, half his face covered with a mixture of dirt and hay, 

"Mr morgan! You are quite a sight! covered in muck, stinking of booze and sleeping amongst the horses! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Miss Grimshaw's shrill voice pierced through his head like a bullet as he stumbled to get himself standing, the throb of last night pulsing through his entire body.

"Get yourself cleaned up before you get us all sick!" He wouldn't argue with Susan on a good day so he mumbled something that sounded like a 'sure' and made his way to his wagon and water barrel.

After rubbing his eyes so hard that he saw spots, Arthur looked into the little mirror he had near his shaving kit and was unsurprised to find out that Miss Grimshaw was right, he looked like shit.

His hair was a mess, sticking out at all angles with Hay and grass all through it, dirt making an ugly artwork on his face and his eyes were bloodshot like he hadn't slept in months.

Washing himself the best he could with the water from the barrel, Arthur wracked his brain trying to remember last night, He remembered Mary and her brother, the 'Chelonians' but nothing came to mind about how he ended up like this.

He decided that maybe a coffee would help clear his head. 

Heading to the fire near the chuck wagon, surrounded by other camp members who had just woke up, he poured himself a generous mug of the steaming beverage.

Arthur leant against Pearson's table as he drank, relishing in the way the hot steam soothed his dry eyes as he raised the tin mug to his face, unfortunately, his small peace was broken when a familiar german voice spoke from his side

"𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been drunk, nor hungover so I apologise if this isn't realistic!


	6. The Sheep And The Goats

With every step, Beast took, the feeling of dread in Arthur's stomach grew bigger and bigger. Debt collecting had to be Arthur's least favourite thing to do.

Arthur remembered back when he had first met dutch and Hosea, they had given money to poor people like the Downes who couldn't pay back their debts and now they were the people who people paid back.'

The number of times Arthur had been forced to use violence to either 'persuade' people into paying or just to punish them was more than Arthur ever thought he'd allow himself to do.

He was 'supposed' to be in valentine right now with John, the other man had come up with the idea of hustling livestock and if Arthur was honest he wasn't exactly sure how well that would turn out.

But he had to let John work on his own things, lord knows that man can only do so few things at a time, he can either avoid his family or avoid the law, never both.

It seems that John had taken up more of his mind on the way to the Downes ranch than he thought, Beast approaching the homestead at a steady pace.

The first thing Arthur noticed was the wagon out front, it was half full of supplies and a grim-looking woman stood beside it looking towards the house.

Arthur gulped down his hesitation and called out,

"Mrs Downes?" the woman snapped her head towards him and as he rode closer he could see the signs of sleep deprivation on her face,

her eyes had deep bags under them, her hair was in disarray and her face was puffy as if she had been crying.

Once she saw Arthur she drew her arms across her chest, watching him closely as he dismounted beast.

"Can I help you" The woman's voice croaked,

Arthur let out an awkward cough, dealing with women debtors was always more of a challenge, you couldn't well beat a woman for money, could you?

"I'm here for our money. The money a Herr Strauss gave you, I'm here to collect it" He tried to soften his voice but it still came out like a threat, he could tell by the way the woman took a step back and averted her eyes.

"Oh, right" Arthur steeled himself as he watched tears build in her eyes, he was used to women crying to try and get out of their debt, it rarely worked, rarely.

The woman retreated into the house for a minute, Arthur strained his ears to make sure she wasn't making a run for it, even though deep in his gut he knew she wouldn't.

The woman came back out, a young man behind her and fresh tear streaks down her face, with a wad of cash in her hand.

She gave him the money and climbed into the driver's seat of the wagon, the young man glaring daggers at him as Arthur silently walked away.

he was almost next to his horse when he heard the young man behind him shout out,

"You're despicable! Taking money from a woman!" Arthur stopped dead in his tracks, he knew it would be better to just walk away and leave this whole ordeal behind him.

but he didn't,

"What'd you just say to me boy" Arthur felt his face contort into the harsh grimace he saved for jobs, his lips rising into a smirk as he watched the younger man in front of him squirm.

"You heard me!" He was clearly trying to act tough for his mother which in its self was admirable but it was also a stupid decision to piss off a man with four guns on his person.

"Well, maybe your daddy should've paid us on time!" at the mention of his father the young man flinched back from Arthur's aggressive stance,

after a few moments of silence, Arthur spat on the ground and walked back to Beast, ready to return to camp, and maybe help John with that sheep job he was talking about.

as he passed the young man and his mother on their wagon he heard the woman whisper,

"A dead man can't pay his debts"

***

Micah hated sheep, he hated most animals except horses.

The stink of the sheep didn't fade as he and John herded them into the open gates at the auction yard in Valentine,

"Fine sheep" John rasped as they dismount and approach the auctioneer,

The auctioneer shrugs as he turns towards them "They're ok" he sniffs and crosses his arms, eyeing John and Micah up and down,

"I have seen ones with less...Ambiguity of their provenance"

"A lot less" one of the farmhands laughed to Micah's right, John made it clear to him when they rode out that he would do all the talking, but when has Micah followed orders.

Micah stepped closer, partially covering john as he glares at the men in front of them,

"What're you trying to say?" The smarmy grin that appears on the auctioneer's face made Micah want to punch it right off.

"I'm saying, You give me twenty percent kickback, and I won't say nothing to nobody"

"What!?" John squawked behind him,

Micah was trying his best to keep himself steady, he felt the familiar rush of boiling blood surge through his veins as he gritted his teeth,

"Folks swing for rustling livestock, Twenty-five percent!" The red started to descend in front of Micah when John pushed himself between him and the auctioneer

"fifteen"

"Twenty"

"eighteen!"

"done!"

The clap of their hands meeting in a firm handshake broke Micah out of his trance as john turned to indicate to him to shake the other man's hand as well.

Micah felt sick,

"Calm yourself, friend, think of it as, I'm buying your sins" Micah let go of the auctioneer's hand as if he had touched hot coals and turned around towards his horse,

'The richest man on earth can't buy my sins' He thought bitterly to himself, he half registered Johns voice saying something about dutch at the saloon and numbly followed.

The ride was short but it gave Micah some time to question himself, 'i ain't never been this angry this often. have I' that was to big a question for the middle of the damn day, maybe he should pay for a bath while he was in town.

John entered the saloon first, making his way to where dutch was sitting talking to Strauss, he never liked the Austrian, something about him made him feel slimy.

He stood by the window, absently listening to Dutch talk about the job with Marston, sending him back out with Strauss to make sure there was no 'funny business' going on.

"Micah, son, drink?" Dutch gestured to the bottle of unspecified alcohol on the table, without much thought he sat down and let Dutch pour him a glass,

Dutch's words came out garbled, but Micah paid close enough attention to at least know when to respond.

"Van Der Linde!" a booming voice called from outside the saloon, He made his way to the side of the window as Dutch slowly rose from his seat.

"You don't know me, But you keep robbing me!" 

Micah peered out to see a finely dressed older man atop a horse, armed men by his sides,

"My name is Leviticus Cornwall, And I am not a man to be messed with by the likes of you!"

Two more men stumbled into the view of the window, They had John and Strauss in headlocks, John looked more annoyed than scared but Strauss looked like he was about to piss himself.

"Now get out here before I have these men killed!"

Micah looked to dutch for an answer as to what he should do, the man was just standing there chugging the rest of the bottle, "Boss!"

Dutch waved him off as he leaned in close and whispered "Follow my lead"

With not much choice Micah copied Dutch in slowly walking out of the saloon, arms raised. Micah noticed that Leviticus had ridden off, leaving his lackeys weapons raised at the four outlaws.

Dutch had started to talk, about how this was all a case of mistaken identity' as Micah stood beside him gauging when he should make a move, the two men holding John and Strauss seemed more focused on Dutch giving Micah a precious few seconds to shoot.

He steadied his breath, keeping his eyes on the men with their guns trained on dutch as he ever so slowly lowered his arms to his revolvers,

*Crack!* A sudden burst of blood from beside John covered him as all hell broke loose, John quickly grabbed the now dead mans gun and shot the man behind himself, Strauss disarming his own captor whilst he was distracted.

Two wagons raced around the corner as John, Dutch and himself took out the remaining men in front of the saloon while Strauss ran for cover behind a stray crate.

Killing the men as they got down from the wagons was an easy task, Micah turned to find dutch to signal their getaway route but dutch was running to the main street.

"Where are you going? that's right at them!" he heard Strauss cry out as he ran to more cover behind an abandoned wagon,

"We do not run, Mr Strauss!" Dutch's voice cracked, in the split second between the two men's hurried interaction Micah saw one of the armed men aim right at Strauss,

He shot the man in the chest with both revolvers before Strauss could be hit, the man muttering something in german as he clutched his chest in fear.

Strauss hopped in the back of the wagon as Dutch and John started to push it down the street, Himself staying close behind trying to shoot every henchman he saw.

"What are we doing?!" He heard the Austrian man ask as the wagon moved at a gratuitous pace,

"We are getting out of here!" Micah moved forward, in the cover of the wagon but with a view of the men ahead, in his peripherals, he saw john slip on the mud as he pushed.

Taking cover so that he could reload, Dutch didn't stop pushing the wagon through valentine, laughing as he yelled out,

"We are just gonna walk outta here!" 

More men came from behind the general store as the wagon was making its way passed, Micah leapt out from his cover and ran to close the gap between him and the wagon, when he felt a bullet piece his side and collapsed.

He had no time to process the pain as he felt his head smash against the wooden stairs leading to the saloon, and everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I don't write combat?
> 
> Also, time between chapters may be a bit longer, I'm trying to make chapters longer~


	7. Waking Up and Moving Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an OC in this chapter and will be reoccurring through the fic.
> 
> She's not a love interest and she isn't a major character.
> 
> Just a warning because I know some people don't like OC's being added

Visions flitted through his head, of Leviticus Cornwall, the sounds of dutch's almost manic laughter as they stormed through the barrage of bullets in the streets of Valentine,

The burning pain as he was shot and fell.

Micah's eyes opened to an unfamiliar sight around him, it looked like someone's bedroom. Relatively simple, a wardrobe across the wall, a basin in the corner by the window.

Gaining more of his senses Micah realised he was stripped and unarmed, this set off so many alarms in his head as he pulled himself up to rest against the headboard.

He reached a hand up to feel bandages wrapped around his forehead, they matched the one that adorned his torso as well, someone had patched him up.

But who? and where the hell was he? he couldn't be far from valentine and he doubted that if he was captured that he'd be in some comfy bedroom.

Micah was about to try and get out of the bed when the door in front of him creaked open.

A young woman made her way into the room slowly, not noticing he was awake. She had a bowl of something in her hand as she shut the door behind her with her foot and looked towards the bed.

She jumped as he saw that he'd been watching her the whole time, a gentle smile gracing her face as she gingerly sat down on the foot of the bed.

Neither the woman nor the outlaw spoke for a few awkward moments, both sizing each other up,

The Woman stirred whatever was in the bowl as she asked,

"How are you feeling? I did my best with your injuries but I'm no doctor" The woman chuckled, Micah just glared at her.

The woman set the bowl down on the bedside table, the steam gently wafting above it,

The woman let out a surprised gasp as she bounced slightly and reached towards the chest at the foot of the bed,

"I left your things in here, I hope I didn't leave anything back in that mess in valentine" At the mention of valentine Micah tentatively spoke up,

"You saw what happened?" The woman turned back to him, his hat in her hands,

"Most of it, yeah. I saw that big ball of gas Cornwall shouting at the saloon down the street and then all hell broke loose" She got up from the bed, leaving his hat where she was sitting.

"I saw your friends too, ya'll took real good care of Cornwall's henchmen, well three of ya did, that speckled guy looked like he was about to piss himself the entire time" Micah laughed along at the jab at Strauss, it was true after all.

"Now before I talk your ear off, how about you eat something" She gestured to the still steaming bowl beside him, Micah's stomach growled at the thought of food, and this woman seemed decent enough, why patch him up only to poison him later?

Throwing years of teachings aside, Micah grasped the bowl; the warmth seeping into his hands and up his arms as he took a deep breath in of the mystery stew; it smelt way better than what Pearson served back at camp.

The stew was rich, smooth and deep flavours danced upon Micah's tongue as he ate spoonful after spoonful; the meat and vegetables that floated amongst the sauce were perfectly tender and fell apart in his mouth.

He heard the woman giggle from beside him, opening his eyes he hadn't realised hed closed he stared at her, the bowl tilted to his mouth and the spoon abandoned on the bedsheet.

"What ya laughing at girl?!" Micah knew he probably didn't look the most intimidating, covered in a floral bedspread and stew dripping from his facial hair, but he could try.

The woman rolled her eyes as she reached forward to take the empty bowl from him and spoke as she made her way out of the bedroom,

"The noises you made, people would think you were making love to the dang stew" He heard her continued giggles as she walked down the hallway leaving him to think.

***

Returning to camp was like returning to a heard of spooked horses, People were running around, packing up tents and loading wagons, what was going on?

Arthur hurried passed Miss Grimshaw who was shouting orders out to Mary-Beth and Karen as they packed. He soon spotted Dutch with John and Hosea by either side of him, all looking at a map.

"What the hell is going on here?" Arthur called out behind the three men, who all turned to him in surprise,

"We're moving, what does it look like?" The Anger in Dutch's voice wasn't new to Arthur but it was still a shock when it was directed at him,

Hosea clipped Dutch around the ear as he quickly explained to Arthur what happened,

"According to John, after he and Micah got rid of those sheep, They met up with Dutch and Herr Strauss in town, only for a certain Mr Cornwall to corner them and start a shootout"

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened, He and Hosea had told Dutch not to mess with Cornwall, and this was why, the man had too much power for them to deal with.

"Right, so where we heading?" His first priority was getting his family to safety, he can hear more of this mess later.

"We're trying to find a place, it's not going well" John grumbled out as he avoided eye contacted with any of them,

Arthur was about to bite out something nasty when a shaky voice from behind him spoke up, Keiran.

"M-Mr Van Der Linde, Sir I-" Dutch cut him off,

"Can't you see I'm busy O'Driscoll?" Arthur watched as Keiran flinched back but stood his ground, 

"Yes and I, I Understand that, I was coming over here to help" Dutch scoffed at the boy,

"As if I'd be taking any help from an O'Driscoll, what could you possibly have to share that would be of any 'help' " The air quotes were clear in Dutch's voice, without him having to let go of the map,

Keiran stood silent for a split second, his fists clenched at his sides as he stared straight at dutch and spoke clearly, 

"I know of a place we can move to"

***

Looking out the window, Micah could see the sun had lowered in the sky, he guessed that it had been a couple of hours since he was shot and moved here, wherever here was.

He was getting antsy, his mind screamed at him to leave and find Dutch but his body begged him to rest, the constant throb of pain in his side solidifying that argument.

Micah weighed his options, on one hand, he could try and call out for attention and risk getting caught and on the other, he could just sit here with thousands of questions waiting for that woman to return.

He was about to throw his caution to the wind and yell out, but thankfully he heard what sounded like the woman humming her way back towards the bedroom.

The woman's head of coppery brown hair, tied back in a simple plait popped back through the crack in the door, her cheery expression turning stern,

"You should be resting, ain't much you can do in your condition"

"Can't rest when I don't know where I am" Micah bit back, the woman's face softened as she pushed the door open further and leaned against the door jamb.

"I understand, pardon my manners. My name is Laura MacMahon, this-" She gestured to the room around them, "Is my humble abode near Emerald ranch, where I work"

Micah stared at Laura, processing what she said, Emerald ranch wasn't too far from valentine, hell this is where the sheep they stole came from!

"You saw that mess in Valentine and thought it was a good idea to bring me here?! Cornwall's men could be outside any minute!" Micah gripped the bedsheets in frustration, not so much at Laura more so at himself for letting this happen.

"Well Cornwall's men seemed so pre-occupied chasing after your friends that they didn't notice me dragging you back here, we'll be fine!" They both stared at each other, anger clear on their faces.

Laura sighed in frustration, "Look I understand, you want to get back to your friends, I get it. But I can't in good conscience let you ride with a hole in your side!"

"I don't care about your conscience! I'm leaving!" Micah yelled as he threw off the covers, ignoring the pain as he stood and staggered to the chest where his things where.

He struggled to wrap his gun belt around his hips when the air left his lungs as tiny knives stabbed him in the side and he dropped his satchel.

He heard Laura curse and felt her hands on his body, removing the gunbelt he tried so hard to put on, his blood pounded in his ears as he felt her lay him back down in the bed.

"See! You ain't in no condition to be riding off right now!" Her voice was harsh but her actions gentle as she tucked him in and smoothed out the sheets.

Micah looked away embarrassed, he knew she was right, he should be resting, but he had a desperate need to get back to camp. Although now that he thought about it, they were probably on the move by now.

Once the pain started to fade back into a dull throb he spoke,

"Micah. The name's Micah"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading, leave a comment and a kudos (they feed my writer's heart)
> 
> See you in the next chapter!
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr to fawn over cowboys~ https://anarchist-lolita.tumblr.com/


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